Recap: #8 Men's Basketball Gets Two Road Wins over Mideast Region Foes
The Thunder men's basketball team traveled to Kentucky and Tennessee this weekend to take on two Mideast Region foes. The Thunder would have a top-10 matchup with the #9 ranked Boyce College Bulldogs on Friday night in Louisville, Kentucky. The Thunder would be in a tight game with the Bulldogs throughout the first half. TheThunder would find themselves down 11-6 with 16:11 left in the half, but would use a 9-2 run to retake the lead with just under 13:00 minutes. The Thunder would take their largest lead of the half, 36-27, with 4:44 remaining before the Bulldogs would close the half on a 12-4 run to cut into the Thunder's lead. With a 40-39 lead after 20 minutes, the Thunder would open the second half with a 7-0 run. The game would be back and forth with multiple ties and lead changes throughout the second half. The Thunder would take a 64-57 lead with 8:26 left and never look back as the lead would grow to 15 with 1:22 left. The Bulldogs would not go away as the gave a late surge, but the Thunder would prevail by a final score of 86-80.
The Thunder would shoot 53.1% from the field, 47.4% from the three-point line, and 56.3% from the free throw line. Senior, Micah Lovett would lead the charge with 25 points on 9-15 shooting from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line. He would also have three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Junior, Landon Gray would have 15 points with three three-pointers, while fellow junior, Xavier Lucas had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Davis Rokey and Jordan Carter would chip in with 11 points and 9 points, respectively.
On Saturday afternoon, the #8 ranked Thunder traveled south to Gallatin, Tennessee to take on the Welch College Flames. The Thunder and Flames met earlier this season in Manhattan where the Flames would take down the Thunder in overtime, 113-106. The Thunder would earn revenge on the road and extinguish the Flames in a defensive battle, 64-53. The Thunder would lead for the majority of the game and take a 37-22 lead into the half. The Thunder would bolster their lead to as much as 21 in the second half before the Flames would cut the lead to single digits. Timely free throws would close out the flames as the Thunder picked up their second win in as many days. The Thunder would hold the Flames to 32.1% shooting from the field and 23.8% from the three-point line, while out-rebounding them 47-35.
The Thunder would shoot 41.8% from the field, 33.3% from the three-point line, and 57.1% from the free throw line. Rokey would lead the way with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. While guards, Jaxon Hurla, who had 13 points on four made threes, and Lovett, who had 11 points, four rebounds, and three steals, would contribute for the rest of the offense. With the two wins, the Thunder move to 11-9 overall and go 6-1 on their seven game road swing.
The Thunder will return home next week when they host the Barclay College Bears in a Midwest Christian College Conference matchup on Tuesday, January 28th at 6:00 PM.
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